Seventh INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE of the UNIVERSITY NETWORK of the EUROPEAN CAPITALS of CULTURE CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS THE MOSAIC OF URBAN IDENTITIES

Seventh INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE of the UNIVERSITY NETWORK of the EUROPEAN CAPITALS of CULTURE CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS THE MOSAIC OF URBAN IDENTITIES

The University Network of the European Capitals of Culture (UNeECC) will hold its 7th annual conference in Marseille, France, European Capital of Culture 2013. The conference will be hosted by the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and by Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), in collaboration with Labex Med & Marseille-Provence 2013.

Seventh INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE of the

UNIVERSITY NETWORK of the EUROPEAN CAPITALS of CULTURECULTURAL ENCOUNTERS THE MOSAIC OF URBAN IDENTITIES

CALL FOR PAPERSThe University Network of the European Capitals of Culture (UNeECC) will hold its 7th annual conference in Marseille, France, European Capital of Culture 2013. The conference will be hosted by the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and by Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), in collaboration with Labex Med & Marseille-Provence 2013.

UNeECC wants to stimulate the interdisciplinary debate among scholars on the annual conference theme and the exchange of ideas and good practices between academics and practitioners working with and in European Capitals of Culture (ECoC).

We are inviting papers from universities and other institutions of higher education that are located in cities which are, have been, or will be designated European Capitals of Culture, or from individual scholars, local administrators and cultural managers involved in the ECoC programme.

2013 Conference themeMulticulturalism is often perceived and/or represented as a threat to local identity. Treatises on the subject are usually politically and ideologically biased and select only those arguments that support their authors' cause. In reality, however, the issue of multiculturalism is far more complex than these texts suggest and it is up to the academic community to study in depth the challenges posed and opportunities offered by what essentially is an 'encounter of cultures'. Given its commitment to the European Capitals of Culture, with Marseille as a multicultural city par excellence, UNeECC wants to focus on multicultarism in urban environments. At the same time, however, by organizing this conference it hopes to contribute to the on-going debates on European Citizenship.

For the conference ‘Cultural Encounters. The Mosaic of Urban Identities’ we want to invite papers from scholars in any field of research who want to share their disciplinary insights in the matter with colleagues from other disciplines. How is multiculturalism in urban settings treated in their disciplines, what challenges and opportunities do they see? And how do they differ from or enhance the views we encounter in the media or in political or ideological debates? We expect contributions from polital sciences, sociology, psychology, urbanism, geography, economy, history, cultural and literary studies etc., but we would also welcome papers from less evident fields such as medicine, epidemiology, genetics, engineering, architecture etc.

On top of that we want to invite practitioners from European Capitals of Culture and universities situated in them to share their experiences and good practices in dealing with multiculturalism. We particularly want to attract people from city and ECoC administrations and universities who have joined forces and collaborate to address the challenges and opportunities of cultural encounters within an urban setting. How do they meet the expectations with regard to multiculturalism from their stakeholders (European, national, local authorities, the general public and universities)?

To stimulate interdisciplinary debate and the exchange of insights and good practices we will cluster the conference sessions around similar topics, scopes and practices, rather than on disciplines or particular situations. A selection of the papers will be published in UNeECC Forum.

Conference practicalitiesThe conference will be held in English. Participants are invited to bring copies of their presentations or a substantial abstract. Overhead projection and PowerPoint facilities will be available. Time allotted to each presentation will be 15 minutes with an extra 5 minutes for questions and answers.

We very much encourage professors, teachers, researchers, young scholars and junior faculty to participate. We also invite papers from undergraduate and graduate students. Students should indicate their student status (graduate or undergraduate) when presenting a proposal.We also invite colleagues from local city/regional administrations, particularly those responsible for organizing their cities’ European Capital of Culture programme, to present papers about ideas, projects and good practice.

Abstract submissionPlease read carefully the 2013 conference theme above and indicate precisely to what category of presenters you belong: a scholar who wants to make a contribution from a disciplinary point of view, or a practitioner presenting a paper on good practices. Presenters should also explain how their paper proposal fits in with the overall theme of the conference. Abstracts should not be longer than one page and should contain the following items:

The deadline for receipt of proposals, including titles, authors' names, institutional affiliation and addresses, and an abstract is 15 April 2012. Late proposals may be considered if space is available. Applicants will be notified of the acceptance of their proposal by the beginning of May. Registration will begin on 1 May. The website will contain registration forms and information regarding hotels and registration fee.

The registration fee for the presenters from UNeECC members institutions is 120 Euro, for presenters from other institutions it is 150 Euro. For PhD students of UNeECC members institutions the registration fee is 90 Euro, while for students from other universities it is 120 Euro.

NOTICE: Participants must register for the conference. Presentations and presenters will not be listed in the printed programme if the presenter has not registered. Please consult the UNeECC website –www.uneecc.org – for information on registration, fees and additional information.

For any additional information about the conference, feel free to contact Mrs Gyöngyi Pozsgai.

About UNeECCThe University Network of the European Capitals of Culture (UNeECC), an international non-profit association, was founded in Pécs, Hungary in December 2006, by 15 founding members.The creation of UNeECC originates from the recognition of the fact that the prestigious European designation of being a European Capital of Culture is a special asset for Universities and establishments of Higher Education based in European Capitals of Culture in as much they can utilize this experience to stimulate new forms of academic and educational institutional collaboration.As it is stated in the Statutes, the general aim of UNeECC is:

a) to ensure the recognition of the role and contribution of universities to the success of the cities conferred the title "European Capital of Culture"b) to provide the member universities with a possibility of a continuous and full participation in the European Capitals of Culture movement enhanced by "Universities of the Year"c) to foster inter-university cooperation to develop and reshape the universities regional position to create new activities for city and university collaboration

At present UNeECC has 44 members. The activities of the Network and its members are constantly updated on the UNeECC-website (www.uneecc.org).We would like to invite all universities and establishments of Higher Education situated in European Capitals of Culture who have not yet joined UNEECC to do so, by consulting the web site at www.uneecc.org or by contacting Mrs Gyöngyi Pozsgai.